The present invention relates to: a system for documenting the state of a component, for example a component present on board a means of transport, such as an aircraft; the use of the system in a means of transport, for example in an aircraft; a means of transport, for example an aircraft, having such a system; an associated method for documenting the state of a component, for example a component present on board a means of transport, such as an aircraft; and a computer program for executing the method.
Disposed on means of transport, such as aircraft, buses, trains or ships, there are numerous components or structural parts whose state may change with time. The state of a component or structural part may change both in a wanted manner and in an unwanted manner. A wanted change of state can be understood to be, for example, that a luggage compartment present in a means of transport is deliberately brought from an open to a closed state. An unwanted change of state may be faults of a structural part, (technical) defects of a structural part, or damage to a structural part.
Usually, items of information relating to the state of structural parts, such as the occurrence of faults and defects, is recorded textually in logbooks. In conventional logbooks, fault messages can be generated in a predefined standard defect catalogue, by means of which a user can select predefined standard faults. Discrete faults can be recorded textually in an unambiguous manner by means of such a standard defect catalogue. A discrete fault is present, for example, if a lamp disposed in the means of transport fails to illuminate. This fault can be noted textually in an unambiguous manner in the logbook by, for example, the words “lamp does not illuminate.”
The recording of a defect is normally followed by an in-situ inspection by the maintenance personnel, in order to assess the precise extent of the damage.
A method and a system for collecting defect data of structural parts in a passenger cabin of an aircraft are known from DE 10 2009 018 772 A1 and WO 2010/122048 A1. In the case of this method, an electronic device assigned to a user is connected to a central communication facility, a user interface provided by the communication facility is called up by the electronic device, defect data of components are requested by the communication facility, through an interactive dialog, via the user interface on the electronic device, and the requested defect data are stored in a central data storage unit by the communication facility.
EP 2 423 108 A2 and US 2012/0053779 A1 relate to a system and a method for collecting defect data of structural components in a passenger cabin of an aircraft. The system has a structural-part identification unit for identifying an affected structural part, and a malfunction selection equipment, connected to the structural-part identification equipment, for selecting a malfunction of the identified structural part from a predefined quantity of structural-part specific malfunctions. The system additionally has a locating equipment, connected to the structural-part identification equipment, for recording a position of the affected structural part in the passenger cabin.
US 2003/0032448 A1 describes a portable electronic device, by means of which real-time audio and/or real-time video signals and position-related items of information can be recorded.